Cuboidal structures

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to the assembling matters such as blocks which are solid and stout and have excellent fittability or joinability to one another, such matters being capable of forming face plates of perfectly same configuration adapted to constitute the respective sides or faces of a six-sided cubic structure which can be easily assembled or disassembled and which can be utilized for a variety of purposes such as for building, construction, many types of utensiles, structures, toys and so forth.

United States Patent [191 Tsurumi 1 .Bune4,1974

I 1 CUBOIDAL STRUCTURES [76] Inventor: Sukeo Tsurumi, 55 Syokusan,Najio,

Siyoze, Post No. 669-11, Nisinamiya, Hiyogo, Japan [22] Filed: Nov. 18,1971 [21] Appl. No.: 200,081

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data June 25, 1971 Japan 46-45692 June25, 1971 Japan 46-45693 [52] US. CI 52/648, 273/160, 52/758 A [51] Int.CI ..E04h 1/12 [58] Field of Search 46/27, 28, 29, 24, 25;

287/54 B, 54 C, 189.36 A; 52/79, 648, DIG. 10, 655, 488, 656, 657, 663,637, 668;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,894,061 1/1933 Sanders46/25 2,473,369 6/1949 273/160 2,558,591 6/1951 Starck 273/160 UX2,836,421 5/1958 Turner 273/160;

3,144,265 8/1964 Humble 287/54 8 3,670,449 6/1972 Lemkin et al.... 46/25X 3,690,672 9/1972 Dreyer 46/24 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS150,156 4/1904 Germany 46/28 259,637 5/1913 Germany 52/657 363,4449/1962 Switzerland 287/189.36 A

Primary Examiner-John E. Murtagh Assistant Examiner-Carl D. Friedman 5 7ABSTRACT The present invention relates to the assembling matters such asblocks which are solid and stout and have excellent fittability orjoinability to one another, such matters being capable of forming faceplates of perfectly same configuration adapted to constitute therespective sides or faces of a six-sided cubic structure which can beeasily assembled or disassembled and which can be utilized for a varietyof purposes such as for building, construction, many types of utensiles,structures, toys and so forth.

3 Claims, 24 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJun 4mm sntsnurs INVENTOR SUKEOTsu/ecrm PATENTEDJUR 4 m4 INVENTO/E SUK0 TSURUM/ HTTORNEYS PATENTEDJUH191 3813841 sum 5 or 5 Feb.

INVENT R SUKEO T URU/VII ATTOIQ/VH'S CUBOIDAL STRUCTURES DETAILEDDESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION:

The present invention is intended to provide very useful assemblingmatters which are of most simple and uniform configuration and designedto constitute the respectives sides of a six-sided cubic structure andwhich are easy to manufacture, transport and handle and can be easilycombined together in various ways to meet various purposes of use.

In the conventional built-up structures of various types such asconcrete blocks, the individual composite members are widely varied inquality and shape, and it was hardly possible to build up a complicatedstructure meeting certain particular purposes by assembling the simpleuniformalized members alone. Also, such structures as concrete blocks,particularly the ones which are of a large size, was very difficult totransport in the form as they are, so that it was often necessary totransport them in sections and assemble them at the job site. It will,therefore, be easily understood that it would be of great benefit notonly to such building and construction industries but also to our dailylife if there were available uniform-sized assembling matters that canbe easily and efficiently assembled into desired structures includingnot only those used for building or construction but also many types ofdaily utensiles or toys and that can also be easily disassembled andrearranged into other types of structures as desired.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide face or sideplate of same configuration which can be joined together at four sidesto form a six-sided regular cubic structure which, if desired, can beeasily disjointed and reassembled into an oblong cubic structure sincesaid plates, although same in configuration, may be varied in size.

Another object of the present invention is to obtain a perfect cubicstructure by suitably combining said plate members which are most simpleand handly and are of same standardized quality.

It is still another object of the present invention to obtain cubicstructures used for constructing a truss or the like, such cubicstructures being composed of cross-or lattice-shaped plate members.

It is an additional object of the present invention to build up aperfect hollow cubic structure by assembling plate members of the sameconfiguration.

Yet another object of the present invention is to obtain said type ofplate members which are made of steel, concrete, wood, synthetic resinor other like material and which are suited for use as a prefab buildingmatter.

A further object of the present invention is to extend the scope ofapplication of the basic principle of the invention over the expandedfields of various industries, domestic applications, toys, recreations,etc.

These and other objects and features of the present invention willbecome apparent from reviewing the following detailed description of thepreferred embodiments of the invention as taken in conjuction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. I is a perspective view of a cubic structure built up by assemblingthe crossshaped members each being adapted to constitute a side of saidstructure;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the general configuration of across-shaped member used to constitute a side of the cubic structure ofFIG. I;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an example where the circularly orsquarely shaped face plate members are used together with thecross-shaped members to form a crate-like cubic structure;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a cross-shaped member as it was dividedinto two portions;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a cross-shaped face plate member madefrom a single sheet of plate;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a cubic structure formed by assemblingthe plate members shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a simpleelementary matter which may be combined with many other similar mattersto assembly a cross-shaped face plate member or a cubic structure;

FIG. 8 is a plane view of the elementary matter of FIG. '7, showing thewidth A thereof;

FIG. 9 is a plane view showing the thickness B and other dimensions ofthe elementary matter of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a plane view of a face plate member formed by combining threeelementary matters shown in FIGS. 7 to 9; I

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the plate member shown in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a plate member formed by combining twoelementary matters and providing auxilary fillers thereto;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing'the configuration of said fillers;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a face plate member modified from themember of FIG. 2 so as to form recessions and projections at four sides;

FIG. 15 is a perspective of a cubic structure assembled from the faceplate members exemplified in FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a square plate to which the face platemember or members of FIG. 14 may be hinged;

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a face plate member similar to thatshown in FIG. 14 but reduced in thickness;

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of a cubic structure assembled from theface plate members of FIG. 17, show ing the joined relation between saidmembers;

FIG. 19 is a perspective .view of a member formed by hollowing out theinterior of the plate member of FIG. 14, with rods or bars being passedtherethrough to make the member lockable:

FIG. 20 is a perspective view of a cubic structure built up byassembling the face plate members each of which is composed of threeelementary matters of FIG. 7 combined together;

FIG. 21 is a perspective view of a cubic structure assembled from theface plate members each of which is composed of two elementary mattersof FIG. 7 combined;

FIG. 22 is a cubic structure assembled from the face plate members eachof which is composed of four elementary matters of FIG. 7 combined;

FIG. 23 is a plane view showing an example of chamfering as effected onthe face plate members of FIG. 14; and

FIG. 24 is a side view of FIG. 23.

The present invention, as outlined above, concerns the assembling of theface plate members of same configuration into various forms oftruss-like or hollow cubic structures which may be utilized for avariety of purposes. The featured arrangements of the invention will bedescribed in detail hereinbelow by way of its embodiments of applicationwith reference to the drawings.

Each of the cross-shaped face plate members is joined to another at eachof its four ends to constitute a six-sided cubic structure. Thesecross-shaped members It) may be in the form of square bars, plates orother blocks of any desired sectional configuration and may be made ofvarious sorts of material. Also, each of said cross-shaped members maybe composed of two bar elements and each of such bar elements may bemade up of assemblage of two or more identical simplex plates or likematters.

If the area of a cross-shaped member 10 is enlarged to the limit withinthe scope of the square plane inscribed by the sides of the four ends ofthe member, there is obtained a member 40 such as shown in FIG. 14.These members 40, when combined, can form a hollow cubic structure.

Although the joining of these face plate members may be accomplished byusing suitable fastening means such as nails, bolts and nuts or thelike, it is of course possible to achieve such joining by fittingengagement without using said fastening means at all.

In the case of a hollow cubic structure, the joining may be madeexternally by use of hinge shafts or other means as well as internallyby means of lock pins or the like so as to make it impossible todisassemble the structure from the outside, thus providing a structuresuited for use as a container or the like.

The cubic structures provided according to the present invention areroughly divided into the following four types in terms of purpose ofuse: those used for bulding and construction; those used fortransportation as, for instance, freight containers; those used forvarious industrial or domestic applicances; and those used for toys orother amusement utensiles. More important among these applications isutilization for development of oceanic exploitation and prevention ofpollution and other environmental disruptions and disasters.

In order to meet these varied purposes of use, the products of thepresent invention, although same in the basic principle, may be variedwidely in quality, dimension and other details.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, each of the four ends of each cross-shapedface member 10 is formed with a recession 11 or a tenon 12 which isdovetailed with the tenon or recession at the corresponding end ofanother cross-shaped member whereby six peices of said members 10 arejointed together to form a cubic structure. The cross-shaped face member10 may be composed of two similar bars 20 as shown in FIG. 4, and eachof said bars may be formed with a depression at its central part whereit is to be joined with another bar, so as to join the two bars throughfitting engagement of said depressions. It is also possible to use aone-piece cross-shaped member as shown in FIG. 5, with the end of eacharm being formed with a hole for inserting a bolt, rivet or otherfastening means or arranged to effect hinge pin joining, so as to frameup a cubic structure such as shown in FIG. 6. Alternatively, thecross-shaped face members 10 may be deformed to make the squareshapedmembers 14 or circular members 15, as shown in FIG. 3, which may be usedin combination to constitute a crate-like structure.

Said bar 20 may be composed of simplest elementary pieces 30 as shown inFIG. 7 to facilitate assembling and disassembling. The configuration anddimension of each said elementary piece 30 are selected such as shown inFIGS. 8 to 10, where A represents the width of the face which is exposedupwardly when the pieces are joined to form a cross-shaped member, B thethickness of said piece in FIG. 9, D the span of the recession 3] formedin each piece, and C the distance between one side wall of saidrecession 31 and the corresponding end of piece 30. It is to be notedthat the recession 31 in each piece 30 is formed at a position slightlybiased toward one end from the center such that the distance between theother side wall of said recession 31 and the corresponding end of thepiece 30 will be C B. The span D of said recession 31 will become 3 X Aif three of said elementary pieces 30 are combined to form across-shaped member as shown in FIG. 10. Likewise, it will be 2 X A iftwo pieces are combined and 4 X A if four pieces are combined. It istherefore advisable to maximize the size of the space D in each piece 30such that such space may be suitably narrowed, as desired according tothe purpose of use by fitting therein a spacer or spacers 32 such asshown in FIG. 13, which are of a desired size and provided with aprotuberance 33 which aptly fits in the corresponding slit or dent 34formed in each side wall of the recessed portion 31 in each elementarypiece as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, so as to form a desired cross-shapedface member.

Said biasing of the position of the recession 31 in each elementarypiece 30 is designed to form the depression 11 or tenor 12 when saidpieces are combined together to constitute a cross-shaped member 10. Asseen in FIG. 7, each elementary piece 30 is formed with holes 35, 36 and39 which may be used, if need be, for joining the pieces 30 together.The holes 36 and 37 are at the symmetrical positions which are of equaldistance from the recession 31.

In the case of a square face plate member 40 shown in FIG. 14 which wasformed by deforming the member 10 of FIG. 2, the correspondingprotuberances 41 and recessions 42 are formed at the opposed sides ofthe plate as shown. The height of each protuberance 41 and the depth ofeach recession 42 are equalto the thickness E of the plate 40 so thatthe cubic structure formed by assembling such plates 40 will have itcorners 43 recessed as shown in FIG. 15. This will allow adaptation of ahinge-pin-joined face plate 50 such as shown in FIG. 16, so thateffective joining may be made by providing suitableshafts and holesaccording to the purpose of use. Namely, recessions 52 and protuberances51 each having a shaft hole are formed at the opposed sides of the plate50 and the shafts in the plate 40 are inserted in said shaft holes inthe plate 50, thereby to assemble a cubic or otherwise configuredstructure which may most effectively be utilized as, for example, afreight container.

In case of using the thinned plates 60 such as shown in FIG. 17 whichwere each formed by reducing the thickness E of the plate 40 as comparedwith the depth of recessions 42 and height of protuberances 41, theresultant cubic structure will have an appearance as shown in FIG. 18where the protuberances 61 and projections 63 and (64) on both sides ofeach recession 62 are all projected outwardly of the cubic structure.These projections 61, 63 and 64 are fittably engaged with those of othersimilar cubic structures so that a plurality of such structures may becoupled together either vertically or laterally, or both vertically andlaterally, to form a large and massive structure which may suitably beutilized for prefab or other building construction. Each of such squareplates 60 has excellent joinability sufficient to stand immediate useeven in case such plates are assembled in a simpliest way, without usingany fastening means such as nails or bolts, to build a makeshift shack.In case of using them for con structing a more solid building, it willneed to reinforce the square plates 60 which will serve as walls in thelower part of the building so as to stand possible heavy load appliedthereto. It may also be necessary to take some other suitable measuressuch as using suitable fastening means such as bolts for joining thejunctures of the adjoining structures or forming suitable openings,passages or windows in some of the plates 60.

In the case of a hollow cubic structure such as shown in FIG. 19, whichwas formed by using the plates each prepared by hollowing out theinterior of the plate 40 of FIG. 14, coupling rods or bars 46 may bepassed through the structure as shown so as to allow locking thereoffrom the inside.

Discussing now the cubic structures formed from seemblage of a pluralityof said elementary pieces 30 and having the same cross-shapedconfiguration on each of the six faces of the structure, it will benoted that there is obtained a cubic structure such as shown in FIG.when using the cross-shaped face plate members each being composed ofthree elementary pieces 30 combined together, a structure such as shownin FIG. 21 when using the face members each being composed bycombination of two elementary pieces, and a structure such as shown inFIG. 22 when using the face members each being composed by combinationof four elementary pieces. By suitably varying the height ofprotuberances, depth of recessions and thickness of each elementarypiece 30 from one another, it is possible to form the projections suchas the ones 61, 63, and 64 in the cubic structure of FIG. 18, so as toobtain high joinability of the cubic structures to each other. It isalso possible to utilize these projections to provide depressions andsuitable packings or fillers may be stuffed in such depressions forjoining the cubic structures to one another, thereby producing adecorative or artistic effect to meet certain specific purposes.

In order to obtain a perfect hollow cubic structure having no projectionor recession, such as the one shown in FIG. 15 without each cornerportion 43 thereof being cout out, four pieces of face plates 40 of FIG.14 each being added with a complementary portion as shown by a dottedline and two pieces of such face plates each being further added with anadditional complementary portion 45 are assembled together, whereby aperfect hollow cubic structure having an expanded plan shown in FIG. 23can be formed.

In the structure of FIG. 23, if the thickness of each face plate 70 is Eas shown in FIG. 24, then the height of each projection 71 and the depthof each recession 72 will be also E, that is, they are all of a samesize, and only two pieces of face plates 70 have a small projection 73.The cubic structures assembled from these face plates, of which anexpanded plan is shown in FIG.

23, may, for instance, be utilized in the following manners. If acalendar is printed or inscribed on both front and back sides of eachsaid face plate, there can be obtained a container bearing a calender onits face plates each of which can be turned backside front as desired.Also, if each face plate is made of a transport material and laminatedin two folds, with a photograph or the like being interposedtherebetween, there may be assembled an album container. It is alsopossible to form a transparent die if each of the face plates isperforated with a hole or holes ranging in number from 1 to 6. F urther,if several smaller dice are placed within such transparent die, therecan be obtained a plaything having plural dice.

As viewed above, it is possible with the present invention to form withease a cubic structure, or assemblage of such structures, havingexcellent joinability, by simply assembling together six pieces of facemembers which are of same form and size are each provided withcorresponding fitting configurations at the opposed sides and of whichthe direction of joining is always same. The scope of use of theproducts of the present invention extends very widely; they may, forinstance, be used for various purposes in building and constructionworks, for cultural institutions or facilities for prevention ofdisaster or environmental pollution or disruption, for various types ofcontainers or apparatuses used for transportation or storage, for indoorequipments or utensils for domestic use, for upholstery, toys,educational implements, and for many other purposes. Pracically, theyare open to limitless development and utilization if the originality andcontrivance of the users is added.

I claim for Patent:

1. A cuboidal structure comprising six face plate units, at least fourof said face plate units each having at least one end linking portionwhich is identical to at least one end linking portion of the otherthree of said four face plate units, each face plate unit being linkedto four other of said face plate units in the form of a cuboidalstructure, each of said face plate units comprising at least twoidentical members each having a recess and said members being positionedtransversely relative to one another with their recessed portionsoverlapping one another providing a cross-shaped face plate.

2. A cuboidal structure comprising six face plate units, each of saidface plate units consisting of crossedelements, each said elementconsisting of a plurality of rectangular members positioned side by sidewith each member having a recess located at a position toward one endfrom the center of the longitudinal axis of said member and with therecesses of all of said members being aligned transversely of saidmembers with the end portions, of said members being offset, each faceplate having the recesses of its crossed-elements overlapping and thecrossed-elements of each face plate having their end portions matingwith end portions of others of said face plates crossed-elements in theshape of a cuboidal structure.

3. A cuboidal structure as claimed in claim 2 wherein each face platecrossed-element has at least one of said rectangular members between atleast two others of said rectangular members.

1. A cuboidal structure comprising siX face plate units, at least fourof said face plate units each having at least one end linking portionwhich is identical to at least one end linking portion of the otherthree of said four face plate units, each face plate unit being linkedto four other of said face plate units in the form of a cuboidalstructure, each of said face plate units comprising at least twoidentical members each having a recess and said members being positionedtransversely relative to one another with their recessed portionsoverlapping one another providing a cross-shaped face plate.
 2. Acuboidal structure comprising six face plate units, each of said faceplate units consisting of crossed-elements, each said element consistingof a plurality of rectangular members positioned side by side with eachmember having a recess located at a position toward one end from thecenter of the longitudinal axis of said member and with the recesses ofall of said members being aligned transversely of said members with theend portions, of said members being offset, each face plate having therecesses of its crossed-elements overlapping and the crossed-elements ofeach face plate having their end portions mating with end portions ofothers of said face plates crossed-elements in the shape of a cuboidalstructure.
 3. A cuboidal structure as claimed in claim 2 wherein eachface plate crossed-element has at least one of said rectangular membersbetween at least two others of said rectangular members.